Episode 52: Saved by a Hare
Saved by a Hare is the fourth episode of Season 3 and the fifty-second overall episode of the Monster Rancher anime series. It aired in Japan on April 29, 2001. Synopsis The gang runs into Hare at an orchard and finds out that he has been living with Tama who saved Hare after the battle with Moo. Seeing that they are on such good terms, the gang cannot bear to break them apart. Leaving Hare behind, the run into Zerbasaurians that are sent by General Durahan. With Holly held hostage; Hare comes at the nick of time to save the day. In the end, Tama makes a tough decision to let Hare go. Full Recap Tiger finds out that he has lost his fighting abilities and tries to get it back by repeatedly using the attacks but in vain. General Durahan sends Zebra Saurians (Zebra-like Dinosaurs) after Genki's gang. Tiger runs into his old friends, Daton and Datonare who are his followers in the past. Tiger and his old pals decided to have a feast to celebrate the reunion and turn their attention to a nearby orchard. Despite the others' protest, Tiger agrees with his old friends and enters to steal some mangoes, only to fall into a trap by Hare. After some catching up, Hare introduces the gang to Tama who found Hare after the battle with Moo. Tama runs an orchard left by her parents but her fruits always gets stolen when their ripe by wild monsters. One day, she found her and then nursed Hare back to health. Hare was not turned into a Mystery Disc like Mocchi and Tiger. After recovering, Hare decided to repay her by helping her out at the orchard and using traps to prevent monsters from stealing from the Orchard. Hare did wanted to look for the gang but stayed to help Tama as she really needed his help and soon a year passed. That night, the gang wondered how they should ask Hare to come with them since he and Tama are so close together. After some discussion, they decided that Hare should remain with Tama while Tiger's friend could stay with them. The next day, the gang thanked Tama and gets ready to leave without Hare. Hare bid them goodbye but not before offering some advice to Tiger as he has lost his fighting abilities. Obviously, Tiger did not like what Hare told him. Tama tells Hare to leave but Hare is reluctant to. Tama insists and after thanking Hare, run off in tears. Hare apologies to the gang that he cannot leave and runs after Tama. Holly tells everyone it is time for them to go. The gang sat down to reconsider their decision to leave Hare behind and even after Genki's cheering, everyone feels down. Back at the orchard, Hare just cannot keep his mind from thinking about his friends and Tama notices it. To avoid talking about this, Hare runs off to a guard tower to keep watch on the orchard. From there, he spotted some new monsters near the orchard. After some time, he saw their baddies' crest and noticed that they are going in the same direction as Genki and gang. While Tama is cooking dinner, Hare is fighting inside himself whether to go and warn Genki and gang. He is worried if he leaves now he cannot come back to face Tama again. The baddies Hare saw earlier are Zebra Saurians and they quickly surrounded the gang who are below in a valley. The captain demands for the Mystery Disc and when the gang refuses a fight broke out. Try as they might but the gang is too weak to fight against the Zebra Saurians. After a while, the Zebra Saurian Captain realizes it and told his men to focused their firepower on Golem who is the only one that can fight. Golem tries to stand his ground while shielding Holly and the Mystery Disc. Seeing that Golem is still standing, the Zebra Saurians get ready to send out a second barrage. Tiger runs up and shouts out that he is going to use Blizzard. This freaked the Zebra Saurians out, giving Tiger sufficient time to ram them over. We then learn that Hare taught Tiger to just fake it since he cannot do the real thing. The gang reorganizes and get ready to charge at the Zebra Saurians. Suezo tells Holly to give him the Mystery Disc so that the Zebra Saurians will not go after her. She gives Suezo the Disc and goes to hide. This new wave of attack proves to be more successful than before as the Zebra Saurians are on the receiving end of the attack. Suddenly, a claw appeared and grabbed Holly from behind a rock. Just as Golem unleashes a Tornado attack, Genki realizes that Captain Zebra Saurian has held Holly hostage. Tama climbs up to the tower and sees Hare's scarf tied onto the railings but Hare is nowhere is sight. Captain Zebra Saurian threatens the gang to hand over the Mystery Disc. While everyone watches from below, Suezo gets ready to teleport but Captain Zebra Saurian saw it and warns him against doing so. Just as Genki considers handing the Disc over, Hare appears on the peak and jumps down, unleashing Dragon Punch on Captain Zebra Saurian. With the Captain down, the gang climbs up to where the Captain is to fight him. The Captain tells them that he has an invincible attack and Hare asks him if it is called running away. The captain looked shock and told his men to run for their lives. Just as they are commenting on how good at running the Zebra Saurians are, Tama appears. Tama brought Hare's scarf with her, saying that he has forgotten it. She then adds that Hare was mean to leave this behind rather than say goodbye. She also brought a basketful of mangoes for them. She says that this is Hare's payment and she is firing Hare now. She also wants Hare to go with his friends and rid the world of baddies. While they worry if Tama can take care of the orchard without Hare, Tiger's buddies volunteer to stay and help because they do not want to get in the gang's way in such an important mission. Tama gladly accepts this arrangement. In the sunset, they bid each other goodbye and set off, promising to return to visit Tama, Daton and Datonare after completing the mission. Featured Characters *The Searchers *Tama *Daton *Datonare *Zebra Saurian Troops Featured Monsters *Suezo *Mocchi *Golem *Hare *Tiger *Zebra Saurian *Daton *Datonare Trivia Episode Category:Episodes Category:Season 3